World's Finest Chocolate

Last updated

World's Finest Chocolate
Company typePrivate
Founded1939;85 years ago (1939)
FounderEdmond Opler Sr.
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
ProductsChocolate
Website www.worldsfinestchocolate.com OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

World's Finest Chocolate is a chocolate company based in Chicago, Illinois. [1] The company, founded in 1939, has become a large fundraising organization in the United States which typically holds fundraisers for school districts.

Contents

History

World's Finest Chocolate was founded under the name Cook Chocolate Company by Edmond Opler Sr. in 1939.

He started the division that produced chocolate bars for fundraising in 1949 and called it "World's Finest Chocolate".

In 1972, the company's name was changed to "World's Finest Chocolate". In 1985, the company moved into a 500,000-square-foot factory. [2] Opler's son, Edmond Jr., has run the company since Edmond Sr. retired in 1988. [3]

In 2006, World's Finest Chocolate acquired the company Queen Anne, a brand of cordial cherries. In June 2015, the company acquired Market Day, a frozen food store. [2]

In 2021, World's Finest Chocolate started a monthly $2K Giveaway for teachers. [4] [5] The company also donated around 10 million chocolate bars to COVID-19 doctors and nurses. [6]

Corporate affairs

The company specializes in Fundraising events. [7] It manufactures chocolate bars from a cocoa farm in St. Lucia. [8] and has a production site in South Chicago. [7]

Products

The core of the company's business is selling chocolate bars in bulk for school fundraisers and corporate gifts. [1]

World's Finest Chocolate is one of the largest suppliers of the fundraising chocolate market. According to the company it has sold more than 6 billion chocolate bars, their best-known product, [1] [8] and helped their customers raise more than USD 4.4 billion since 1949. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cadbury</span> British multinational confectionery company

Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. Cadbury is internationally headquartered in Greater London, and operates in more than 50 countries worldwide. It is known for its Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery products. One of the best-known British brands, in 2013 The Daily Telegraph named Cadbury among Britain's most successful exports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hershey Company</span> American food company

The Hershey Company, often called just Hershey or Hershey's, is an American multinational confectionery company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, which is also home to Hersheypark and Hershey's Chocolate World. The Hershey Company is one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world; it also manufactures baked products, such as cookies and cakes, and sells beverages like milkshakes, as well as other products. The Hershey Company was founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894 as the Hershey Chocolate Company, originally established as a subsidiary of his Lancaster Caramel Company. The Hershey Trust Company owns a minority stake but retains a majority of the voting power within the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nestlé</span> Swiss multinational food company

Nestlé S.A. is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 2014. It ranked No. 64 on the Fortune Global 500 in 2017. In 2023, the company was ranked 50th in the Forbes Global 2000.

Mars Inc. is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services, with US$45 billion in annual sales in 2022; that year Forbes ranked the company as the fourth-largest privately held company in the United States. Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, the company is entirely owned by the Mars family. Mars operates in four business segments around the world: Mars Wrigley Confectionery, Petcare, Food, and MARS Edge, the company's life sciences division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wrigley Company</span> American candy and gum company

The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, known as the Wrigley Company, is an American multinational candy and chewing gum company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrero SpA</span> Italian multinational food corporation

Ferrero International SpA, more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba. Ferrero is a manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world. Ferrero SpA is a private company owned by the Ferrero family and has been described as "one of the world's most secretive firms".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fundraising</span> Process of gathering donations

Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cargill</span> American multinational food conglomerate

Cargill, Incorporated is an American multinational food corporation based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and incorporated in Wilmington, Delaware. Founded in 1865 by William Wallace Cargill, it is the largest privately held company in the United States in terms of revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forrest Mars Sr.</span> American businessman (1904–1999)

Forrest Edward Mars Sr. was an American billionaire businessman and the driving force of the Mars candy empire. He is best known for introducing Milky Way (1924) and Mars (1932) chocolate bars, and M&M's (1941) chocolate, as well as orchestrating the launch of Uncle Ben's Rice. He was the son of candy company Mars, Inc. founder Frank C. Mars and his first wife Ethel G. Mars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth C. Griffin</span> American billionaire hedge fund manager (born 1968)

Kenneth Cordele Griffin is an American hedge fund manager, entrepreneur and investor. He is the founder, chief executive officer, co-chief investment officer, and 80% owner of Citadel LLC, a multinational hedge fund. He also owns Citadel Securities, one of the largest market makers in the United States.

JustGiving is a global online social platform for giving. The firm's headquarters are located in Bankside, London, England.

Network for Good is an American-certified B Corporation software company that offers fundraising software and coaching for charities and non-profit organizations. The company was founded in 2001 by America Online (AOL), Cisco Systems, and Yahoo! and has processed over $2.2 billion in donations since its inception. Network for Good charges between 3% and 5% transaction processing fee for donations, in addition to any subscription fees that the charity might incur. The transaction processing costs may be covered by the donor or by the nonprofit organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Ricketts</span> American political activist

Laura Marie Ricketts is an American political activist and former attorney who is co-owner of the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Red Stars. Ricketts is also a board member of Lambda Legal and the Housing Opportunities for Women organization. Ricketts' ownership stake in the Cubs makes her the first openly gay owner of a major-league sports franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. B. Pritzker</span> Governor of Illinois since 2019

Jay Robert "JB" Pritzker is an American billionaire businessman and politician serving since 2019 as the 43rd governor of Illinois. Pritzker, a member of the wealthy Pritzker family that owns the Hyatt hotel chain, has started several venture capital and investment startups, including the Pritzker Group, where he is managing partner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GoFundMe</span> American crowdfunding platform

GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the beginning of 2020, over $9 billion has been raised on the platform, with contributions from over 120 million donors.

iDonate

iDonate is an online fundraising platform for charities and non profit organisations in Ireland. It was launched in 2011, and available to charities, nonprofit organisations and crowdfunders in Ireland.

Mondelez International, Inc., styled as Mondelēz International, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding, beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26.5 billion and operates in approximately 160 countries. It ranked No. 108 in the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

CrowdFundEDU was a US-based private for-profit company founded in 2012 that provides a crowd funding website for education. People hold online fundraisers to get contributions for tuition, student loans, books and supplies, sports equipment, events and extracurricular activities. Student debt is recognized as a growing financial burden to young adults, but crowd funding brings an alternative to this form of lending and is considered by some to be one of the greatest financial creations of the digital age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naomi Gleit</span> American technology executive

Naomi Gleit is head of product at Meta, formerly Facebook. She was previously the vice president of social good, growth, engagement, and identity at the company. She has been identified as Meta's longest-serving employee after CEO Mark Zuckerberg, having been at the company from July 18, 2005 to present.

Claudio Velez, often referred to as the Tamale Guy, Authentic Tamale Guy or the Tamale Man, is a cook and mobile caterer of tamales in Chicago. Originally from Acapulco, Mexico, Velez has a longstanding reputation in the city's North Side nightlife as a food provider outside and inside of clubs, bars, and other establishments open late at night. He has been called "Santa Claus for the drunk and hungry" and sells up to 250 pork, chicken or cheese tamales a night. A mobile app through a Twitter account was developed by a customer intended to help others track his location across the city.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Schmeltzer, John (February 7, 2006). "Chocolate firm breaks mold ; World's Finest expands into retail". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 20, 2012.(subscription required)
  2. 1 2 "School fundraising a billion-dollar business". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  3. Teresa Jimenez, "Edmond Opler Sr., Candymaker" (obituary), Chicago Tribune, August 30, 1995.
  4. 1 2 Allen, Shannon J. "'Outstanding educator' wins $2,000". sandmountainreporter.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  5. Amanda Aguilar (November 10, 2021). "Dinuba teacher wins $2,000 in national educator contest". ABC30 Fresno. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  6. "World's Finest Chocolate aims to donate 10M chocolate bars to COVID-19 frontliners". www.candyindustry.com. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Hsu, Judy (February 13, 2015). "Made in Chicago: World's Finest Chocolate". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  8. 1 2 Plunkett, Jack W. (2008). Plunkett's Food Industry Almanac. Pluncket Research, Ltd. ISBN   9781593921064 . Retrieved May 20, 2012. ISBN   1593924496

Further reading